Take a stroll along any Parisian boulevard, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an eatery that doesn’t have outdoor seating. An essential ingredient in the streetside milieu that makes the city so inviting, sidewalk cafes are equally beloved by San Diego restaurateurs — but not nearly so pervasive.

That’s about to change.

Eager to remove the financial and bureaucratic barriers that have kept many restaurant owners from placing tables, chairs and heat lamps on the sidewalk right-of-way, San Diego’s elected leaders last week approved new regulations that should significantly accelerate the approval process.

The changes, restaurateurs predict, will lead to more patio dining that in turn will drive traffic to their venues, generate more sales tax to the city and mean additional jobs for servers. And more sidewalk cafes will make for livelier streets where families, young couples and pet owners can gather for a mealtime outing.

Some communities, however, paint a much less bucolic picture. They warn that a shorter review period that bypasses local planning groups will congest the sidewalks even more as outdoor cafes proliferate, heightening tensions among patrons, pedestrians and cyclists.

What has typically taken months of review time and costs restaurant operators as much as $12,000 in city fees will be cut to only a few weeks for permitting and a flat fee averaging just $1,200, thanks to the City Council action.

That’s welcome news to Brooklyn Girl owner Michael McGeath, who had planned to install an outdoor cafe at his popular Mission Hills restaurant but “just about fainted” last year when he learned the price tag would be as much as $9,000 to add 20 outside seats. He joined other members of the local restaurant association more than a year ago to lobby for regulatory reform after identifying sidewalk cafes as one of the top concerns facing the industry.

Michael McGeath, owner of Brooklyn Girl, hopes to put in a sidewalk cafe once new regulations go into effect.
— Earnie Grafton

Michael McGeath, owner of Brooklyn Girl, hopes to put in a sidewalk cafe once new regulations go into effect.
— Earnie Grafton

Once the new regulations go into effect, most likely in August, McGeath expects that many restaurateurs like himself will be lining up for a permit.

“I want to be one of the first people in line, and I already have the tables and chairs in storage,” said McGeath, whose restaurant opened a year ago. “A day does not go by where someone doesn’t say, why don’t you have outdoor dining? We always envisioned having it because people in our neighborhood are always out walking their dogs, pushing babies in strollers.

“It’s not just to make more money but to give the restaurant more visible exposure. With the weather we have in San Diego, you’d think sidewalk dining would be an absolute must for every neighborhood.”

Discouraged owners

San Diego’s year-round temperate climate, though, hasn’t been enough to fuel an explosion of sidewalk cafes. A discretionary review process that by the city’s own admission can be daunting and confusing has discouraged some restaurateurs from even initiating an application. And those who do say they risk attracting objections that can lead to a hearing before the city Planning Commission.

There have been five appeals to the commission within the past year alone, said city planner Amanda Lee. The city processed a dozen applications for sidewalk cafes in the past year and an additional 14 that first went through Civic San Diego, the agency that reviews downtown projects.

“It’s now a discretionary process, so it requires a judgment call by staff,” Lee explained. “There are different things staff has to evaluate, like hours of operation that are of concern to the community, but there are no requirements in the code for it, so we were in an awkward situation.

“Now it’s going to be an over-the-counter process where there are objective criteria.”

That’s of little consolation to Pacific Beach community activists who say parts of Garnet Avenue already have a high concentration of outdoor cafes that encroach too far onto the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to navigate a maze of tree wells, newspaper racks and trash receptacles.

While the obstacle-free pathway is supposed to be 8 feet wide — and 5 feet under the new regulations — it’s often much less than that, residents claim, forcing people out for a stroll to walk single file.

New regulations for sidewalk cafes

A shorter, over-the-counter process replaces a lengthy discretionary review that can take three to four months or longer.

Permit fee: Will average $1,200, compared to the typical $4,000 to $6,000 cost under current regulations.

Dimensions: An unobstructed 5-foot-wide pathway along the sidewalk is required. Current required width is 8 feet.

Seating: Outdoor seating must be connected to a restaurant. Also, one row of tables within 4 feet 6 inches of the building is permitted without having to erect a fence or railing.

Hours: Sidewalk cafes must close by 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, or when kitchen closes, whichever is earlier.

Other: No smoking or music allowed. Must comply with Alcoholic Beverage Control license to serve alcohol.

Inspections: Required annually for compliance. Cost is $123 per hour.

Source: San Diego Development Services Department

“I’d like to be able to walk down the street with my husband where we’re not scared to death we’re going to be hit by a skateboarder or bicyclist with all this tremendous congestion,” said Eve Anderson, 71, a 40-year resident of Pacific Beach. “What’s behind our fear is we already have this major problem, so how is anyone going to police this? This may very well limit our outings in Pacific Beach, and that’s very sad.”

Also concerned is the Kensington-Talmadge planning group, which favors sidewalk cafes but worries about the potential for over-saturation if there’s no city mandate for the community to weigh in on future applications.

“We love sidewalk cafes and have never voted against one,” said David Moty, who chairs the planning group. “That being said, as these become more popular and take up more space on the sidewalk, there is the prospect of sidewalk congestion.”

Sipping wine outdoors

Village Vino owner Rita Pirkl wants to add about a dozen seats in a 54-square-foot area outside her small wine bar and restaurant on Adams Avenue. She even got the endorsement of the Kensington community and started the process in February. She still doesn’t have the necessary permits but hopes she’ll be seating patrons outside by June.

“There’s a strong desire for people here to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine, because this area is a big walking community. And candidly, this adds another 12 to 14 seats to my wine bar,” said Pirkl, a former banker and sales executive for two Napa Valley wineries.

It took her more than a month to secure her approval from the planning group, after which about eight specialists at the city had to check off various aspects of her plans, Pirkl recalled. She expects she’ll have to spend the full $5,000 deposit she gave the city to cover staff time.

“When I started this, I had no idea it was going to be such a cumbersome process,” she said. “I’m a pretty smart businesswoman, but this whole process is outside my comfort zone, and I imagine that’s true for most restaurateurs. In Europe, it’s a common affair for people to have outdoor dining, and it doesn’t require additional approval.”

There’s almost always a long wait at the OB Noodle House, which is why owner Steven Yeng is eager to place 10 tables for two out on the sidewalk so diners can grab some pho and a beer or sip infused sake. When he first inquired five years ago shortly after he opened, Yeng said the city quoted him as much as $15,000 to get permits for an 185-square-foot outdoor cafe. He only recently initiated the application process and hopes he’ll be serving outdoor diners by July. The extra seating could generate up to $8,000 a month in increased sales, he estimates.

“The fees were so outrageous when I made inquiries five years ago it wasn’t worth it, but now it is because we’re established,” said Yeng, who doesn’t plan to restart his application under the new regulations because they won’t go into effect in beach areas for at least a year, once the California Coastal Commission gives its approval. “I’m frustrated, but at the same time I know everyone is trying to do the best they can.”

Securing approval for downtown sidewalk cafes is generally a bit easier and speedier because processing is done through Civic San Diego, which charges a fixed fee of $1,240. A separate permit, however, is still needed from the city. With the new rules, downtown restaurateurs will be able to go straight to the city and get just one permit.

Gordon Miles, a co-owner of Spike Africa’s Fresh Fish Grill & Bar, across from Horton Plaza, processed the sidewalk cafe at the same time as the restaurant, so both would be open at once. While he characterized the process as far more complex than it needed to be, he’s happy with the end result and believes the outdoor dining will prove to be a good marketing tool for the restaurant, which opened earlier this year.

“When it’s nice out, it does bring in extra income,” Miles said. “It lets people who are driving and walking by know you’re a restaurant. They see people eating, having fun, and that’s valuable. It’s like having an extra sign.”